There has been a significant amount of news lately on the EB-5 program and it is easy to get lost in the weeds. This article summarizes a few of the key points regarding the ever changing landscape of the EB-5 world.
- Only the EB-5 regional center program expired on June 30th. This means that USCIS will continue to accept EB-5 petitions for direct investments. The direct EB-5 program does NOT require reauthorization and continues to operate as normal. As such, if an entrepreneur wanted to invest in a new commercial enterprise right now, they would be free to do so without restriction. You can find out more about the EB-5 direct requirements by clicking here.
- A recent court case has changed the investment amount from the new levels ($900,000 & $1,800,000) to the old levels ($500,000 & $1,000,000). USCIS could appeal this court case but right now, direct investment EB-5 cases can be filed using the $500,000 or $1,000,000 mark depending on whether they are in a TEA/Rural Area or not.
- USCIS stopped accepting EB-5 petitions for regional centers only on June 30th. If your petition was received prior to June 30th, it will be receipted but will be placed on hold until the regional center program has been reauthorized.
- At this point, the reduced investment amount does not impact regional center cases as the Government is not accepting them. When the program is reauthorized, the amount may go back up to the $900,000 level. (if you filed a petition prior to June 30th for a regional center, the $500,000 mark was sufficient)
- If you file a regional center petition after June 30th, it will be rejected until the program is reauthorized
- All pending I-526 petitions and the related I-485 or Consular Processing petitions to grant the original green card are on hold for regional center petitions until the program is reauthorized.
- I-829 petitions are not impacted.
The regional center program is expected to be reauthorized.
The key take away here is that nothing has happened to the direct investment EB-5 program other than the reduction in the investment amount to $500,000.
Learn more about the EB-5 Visa by taking a look at our resources below. You can also sign up for any of our free webinars and schedule a consultation for a date and time that is most convenient to you.
FREE EB-5 Visa Resources
Click on the buttons below in order to claim your free EB-5 Visa Guide, sign up for our free EB-5 Visa Webinar, or watch our EB-5 Visa videos.
Set up an EB-5 Visa Consultation
For a dedicated one-on-one EB-5 Visa consultation with one of our lawyers, click on the button below to schedule your consultation.
This website and blog constitutes attorney advertising. Do not consider anything in this website or blog legal advice and nothing in this website constitutes an attorney-client relationship being formed. Set up a one-hour consultation with us before acting on anything you read here. Past results are no guarantee of future results and prior results do not imply or predict future results. Each case is different and must be judged on its own merits.
